Our skin renews, heals wounds, and regenerates the hair that covers it thanks to a small group of stem cells. These cells continually produce new ones, which appear on the skin surface after a few days. A study led by CRG Alumnus and ICREA researcher Salvador Aznar Benitah undertaken at the Institute for Research in Biomedicine (IRB Barcelona) has identified two proteins that are fundamental to conserve skin stem cells and has shown that without these proteins these cells are lost.

A team of Yale researchers has discovered that infection by the Zika virus (ZIKV) stops neural stem cells dividing in the developing human brain, thereby causing the birth defect microcephaly. The ZIKV does this by diverting a key protein necessary for neural stem cell division. The researchers also reported that antiviral nucleoside analogs, including the FDA-approved drug Sofosbuvir (normally used to treat Hepatitis C virus infection), inhibit ZIKV replication and protect human neural stem cell from death.

The development of new precise and fast genome editing tools, like CRISPR/Cas9, has changed the landscape of biomedical research forever. Much has been written about the technology, but what does it mean for the field of stem cell research and regenerative medicine? Take an in-depth look at genome editing and stem cells with our Questions and Answers.